


[vague hope, cold rain]

by 4wholecats



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Gen, Poison, i just think they should have a conversation like grownups, i wrote this as platonic but what am i a cop, some bandit murder but you know how it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 07:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19194616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4wholecats/pseuds/4wholecats
Summary: “Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t use a sword, back when I fought you in Gallia?”Greil looked up from wiping his axe with the corner of his cloak.“... Would it have mattered?”





	[vague hope, cold rain]

The fight ended almost as quickly as it had begun, but in the short time it took for Arden and Hector to cross the training grounds to pull them apart, Zelgius had already broken Greil’s nose. The summoner had arrived on the scene soon after and ordered both men to their quarters for the rest of the day, yelling about immaturity and the “importance of newfound allyship”.

Sitting on his bed with a tissue shoved up his nose, Greil thought that “newfound allyship” was a load of bullshit. It had been less than a week since he was summoned to Askr, and he was already on the summoner’s bad side. Not that it was his fault, of course. He’d confronted his former student, some words were exchanged, and then the younger man had gone from stone-faced to furious like a switch had been flipped. 

Greil crumpled the bloody tissue and tossed it towards the wastepaper basket. It bounced off the rim and landed on the floor, sagging slightly and probably staining the carpet. He’d have to pick that up before his roommate ( …Drog? Draud?) came back. But before he could clean up his mess, there was a light knock on the door.

He heaved himself off the bed with a sigh and reached for another tissue. His festival outfit would certainly have to be washed, now that it was speckled with blood and dirt, but he would have to answer no matter how disheveled he looked. If he ignored the summoner at a time like this, he would be in even deeper trouble, and he didn’t want to be sent to the void so soon after arriving back to the world of the living.

“Yes?” he said, opening the door and hoping that exhaustion would be a good excuse for his apparent rudeness.

It wasn’t the summoner. Instead, a petite girl dressed in piles of red robes peered up at him with big yellow eyes. 

“Are you looking for Droog?”

The girl’s eyebrows scrunched together under her headband.

“Do you mean to say Draug?” she replied, eyes sliding over to where Draug’s name was written on a plate on the door.  Greil stepped out of the room to take a look at the plaque that he hadn't noticed before. Someone must have put it up while he was brooding.

“I’m not here to see Sir Draug, I’m here to see you. You are the father of Ike, are you not?” the girl continued, speaking with a tone that implied she was far more mature than she looked. 

“Yeah, I’m Ike’s father. Why? What’s the boy done this time?” he said, leaning on the door frame and tilting his head back so as to not bleed on the child in front of him. 

“Ike hasn’t done anything that I know of, but it looks like I can’t say the same for you…” she said, offering him a handkerchief. 

Greil hesitated before taking it. It was a lovely light purple color and he hated to ruin a stranger’s property, but the rest of his tissues were oh so far away. 

“Thanks, kid” he said, voice slightly muffled by the thick fabric. 

“Kid-? You two have much in common, I see. Anyways, once I heard you had arrived in Askr, I knew I had to meet you. Your son is a friend of mine, you see.”

“Mm?” 

“He and the rest of his company were of great help to my cause back in Begnion, and I owe him quite a great deal. I can’t even imagine what would have happened to the Empire if not for his help.”

“The Begnion Empire?” Greil had heard tell of his children’s exploits, but didn’t quite have the full picture yet. The fact that his oldest child had defeated the goddess herself in battle was still an impossibly big pill to swallow.

“Yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Apostle Sanaki, empress of Begnion.” the little girl said proudly with practices ease.

Greil struggled to straighten himself out. Maybe he should have put on a clean shirt before answering the door after all. He bowed slightly, as least trying to maintain a little decorum. 

“I… apologize for my appearance, lady Sanaki. I didn’t know-”

Sanaki held up a hand. 

“Sir Greil, I can assure you that any transgressions are forgiven. Like I said, anyone close to Ike is already in my good books. Just don’t refer to me as ‘kid’ again.”

Greil nodded, still sweating a little bit. He was unsure of what to say. He’d met royalty before and usually knew how to act, but he still wasn’t quite sure how social hierarchies worked in Askr. He’d met Yune the dark god herself just days before, and he was still trying to wrap his head around that, never mind Begnion royalty.

“What happened to your face?” Sanaki asked, squinting up at him. 

His nose hurt like hell and under the handkerchief there was surely a bruise forming. He should go see a healer, but the summoner had ordered him to go to his quarters and he’d been so angry that he wasn’t thinking straight. 

“Got in a little bit of a fight, nothing to worry about. I was just about to go see a healer before you came by.”

Sanaki’s yellow eyes narrowed.

“So then I assume that you are the reason my general is confined to quarters for the day then.”

“Your general? Last time I checked, black was Daein’s color.”

“It’s a delicate situation, Sir Greil. Anyways, I have duties to attend to…” Sanaki’s nose crinkled slightly, “ I have to be at the mess hall to help prepare dinner.”

Sanaki turned to leave, hands folded under her long sleeves. As she exited, she regarded him from over her shoulder.

“In the future, please try your best not to antagonize my men. If Ike can get over it, surely you can as well.” 

And then she turned the corner and was gone.

The healer has been able to fix Greil’s face, but not his bruised ego. In addition to effectively being in time-out for the rest of the day, he was given extra chores to do around the castle for a week. Of course he wasn’t alone on these jobs, but after his third shift in a row of guard duty, he had to admit he was positively exhausted. He could only hope that somewhere else in the barracks, Zelgius was receiving a similar type of punishment. Hopefully something worse. He had been the one to draw blood, after all. 

Finally, at the end of the week, he was free. The summoner had deemed him ready to join a team, returning his newly polished axe and his freshly washed festival clothing. He would have preferred Urvan and his armor, but Ike was using them right now on the orders of the summoner, and since Greil was still trying to get on their good side, he figured it was probably not a good idea to ask for his things back yet. 

As he approached the courtyard, several figures came into view. In front of the group was the summoner, hooded cloak up and strange weapon in hand. Closest to him was a young lady in a strange red hat and dress, holding a large bell. She noticed his approach first and beamed at him, waving with her free hand. Next to her was another young lady clad entirely in pink armor holding an impossibly heavy looking lance with apparent ease. She regarded him with a slight nod, continuing to stand at attention. Next to her was…

Zelgius stood with one hand resting on Alondite’s hilt, looking straight ahead. He was wearing his helmet so Greil couldn’t see his expression, but judging by his stiff body language, he wasn’t happy with this either.

The summoner turned around as he hesitantly walked towards the group. Maybe guard duty was better after all.

“Ah! There you are Greil. We were starting to think you had overslept.” the summoner said, as if ignoring the elephant in the room.

“This will be your new team assignment, as the previous fourth member tended to cause… uh… troubles within our ranks. He’s been reassigned for now, and I just want to see how you work on this team before making any final decisions”

“Thank Naga,” the girl (and she really was just a girl, probably no older than Mist) said, “I hate working with Grima.”

“He’s the other dragons’ problem now,” responded the pink girl in a voice far more gruff than Greil would have expected.

“Yes, well, he was strong but not very good at covering his weaknesses, so I figured that he would be better with some other manaketes who might be willing to boost the dragon power that he has,” the summoner explained, scratching the back of their hooded neck nervously.

“But of course, before you all begin working out tactics and stuff… This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?” The summoner looked from Greil to the Black Knight.

Greil shifted from one foot to the other. The summoner had said before that they needed to form at least some type of agreeable working relationship, but that didn’t mean he wanted to work with the man that had literally killed him not that long ago. But before he could respond with any complaints, Zelgius spoke, his voice echoing inside of his helmet.

“There won’t be a problem.”

“Hmm?” The summoner turned back to Greil, “Do you agree? I’d hate to have to break up another fight... “

“It’s- It’s fine, summoner.” Greil said, making pointed eye contact with where he hoped the Black Knight’s eyes were.

It had better be fine. And if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t be the one headed to the infirmary this time. 

“Good. I expect everyone to act their age and put the past behind them. We’re all fighting for the same cause after all! So, as far as formations go, I was thinking-”

The first few missions were fine. Lissa focused mages, Effie bated the enemies with swords and axes, Greil dealt with axes and ninja, and Zelgius absorbed all physical damage and protected his teammates. The girls were friendly and surprisingly strong, reminding Greil of his own children, and Zelgius was as stoic as ever, rarely removing his helmet outside of battle, nevermind his armor. 

It’s Effie’s turn to drive the cart. The team was on their way north to the mountains of Nifl, preparing to take out a group of enemy soldiers that the pegasus scouts had seen overhead. Greil handed over the reigns and climbed into the back of the wagon, where Lissa sat on the armor crate, rolling her bell along the floor with a bored expression on her face. 

“Sure is taking a while, huh…” she mumbled into her scarf.

The wagon was thankfully covered, but the thin canvas blocking the snow was nowhere near thick enough to keep the cold out. Greil rooted around in the corner and pulled out a threadbare blanket. Lissa scooted over on the trunk and Greil sat, wrapping the blanket over both of their shoulders.

“We’ll be there soon, I’m sure. We’ve been driving for what… three hours now? They can’t have gone far.” Greil assured the girl, who sighed and leaned into his warmth.

“Yeah… It’s not that bad in here, to be honest. I’m glad I can’t drive- I’d hate to do your job, or Effie’s. Or Zelgius’s. ESPECIALLY Zelgius’s.”

The Black Knight was up ahead on horseback, scouting out the road and directing the cart. Even though they had all dressed warmly for the harsh Nifl weather, Greil couldn’t imagine he was comfortable. Serves him right. 

Suddenly, the wagon lurched and suddenly halted, jostling both of them and nearly knocking Effie out of her seat in the front. 

“Oi! Watch your driving; we’ve got weapons back here!” Greil yelled up front, barely catching Effie’s lance before it collided with his head. 

“Sorry! I think we’re caught on something,” Effie responded, leaning into the covered part of the wagon, “Let me check what.”

There was the sound of her clambering down and then horse hooves in soft snow.

“I’d better go out and help, I doubt those two muscleheads could fix a broken wheel by themselves,” Greil said, “You should probably come too, just to lighten the cart a little bit.”

“How heavy do you think I am?” Lissa grumbled, starting to unburry herself from her nest of scarves and blankets. 

“I’m only teasing kid. Come on, lets go,” Greil said, wrapping his own cloak around his head and jumping out of the back of the wagon. After helping Lissa down, both of them maneuvered through the snow towards the front, where Effie was feeling around in the snow as Zelgius dismounted his horse. 

“We hit a rock that was buried in the snow,” Effie said, turning towards the rest of the group, “We’ll need to push the wagon off it and then see if the wheel needs to be replaced. Do we have a spare in the cart?”

“I didn’t see one,” Lissa piped up, drawing her heavy read coat around her.

“Okay, uhh… Lissa. You lead the horses, and the three of us will push the cart then. Good?” Effie looked to the others for confirmation.

“That works well enough for me,” was Zelgius’s reply as he walked around to the back of the wagon.

Effie brushed the snow off her pants and followed him while Greil trailed behind. It only took them a few moments to heave the cart off the rock it had been stuck on, but it was clear the wheel had been damaged to the point of complete non-usability. As soon as it made contact with solid ground again, it made a horrible creaking noise and cracked, splintering and making the corner of the cart sag sadly. 

“Well. I guess we gotta decide what to do now, huh,” Greil said rubbing his hands together before sticking them back in his coat pockets.

“Abandoning the cart is out of the question,” said Zelgius, circling back around to where everyone else was gathered, “This cart has a lot of supplies in it, not to mention our weapons and armor. If the enemy got a hold on it, not only would we be defenseless, they would also be better prepared to attack the camp.”

“Mm. That makes sense. I certainly can’t afford to buy another lance at the moment,” Effie agreed.

“So then what do we do? We can’t ride in it with only three wheels, right?” Lissa asked, looking between the adults curiously.

“No we certainly can’t. But we do still have my horse; one or two of us can ride back to camp, get a replacement wheel and maybe some additional assistance, and then we can decide what to do from there.” Zelgius suggested, motioning for his horse to approach. 

“Sounds like the best option. Let’s split up then. Two small people can probably fit on one horse, so why don’t me and Lissa ride back to camp while you two stay here and make sure all the supplies are safe,” Effie said, already rooting around in the back of the cart for some sort of weapon that she could wield on horseback, just in case the enemy tried to intercept them. 

“So… about 6 hours until you get back then? Assuming everything goes to plan,” Zelgius said, drawing his cloak around him. Greil recognized it as the same one he wore on the back of his armor; a long piece of black fabric lined with red. Daein’s colors.

“Just about. Do you guys think you’ll be alright for that long?” Effie said, swapping out Zelgius’s sword on the saddle for her own, and handing it to him.

“There’s rations in the cart, and a hunting bow if that’s not enough. It shouldn’t be too hard to find firewood in the woods either. We will be fine. Just don’t make any unnecessary stops and be back as soon as possible. I have a feeling this mission is going to be aborted regardless, so maybe bring some people with another cart that we can load our supplies onto.” Zelgius said, shoving his sword into the back with the other weapons.

“Can do.” Effie mounted the steed and Greil helped Lissa up in front of her.

“See you soon, best of luck to you,” Greil said, and then they were gone.

“I suppose I’ll make a fire then,” Zelgius said, heading off in the direction of the trees close by. 

It took him only a few minutes to collect a decent amount of firewood, enough to last them a few hours. Greil cleared some of the ground of snow while Zelgius removed the wet bark of the branches, and soon they had a small fire going. 

“They won’t be back for a while. I can take the first watch if you want,” Zelgius said, a clear attempt to convince Greil that they didn’t have to spend the next few hours in each other’s company.

It probably would have been easier to agree and stay out of each other’s way, but the fire was so warm and Greil could hardly stand the thought of going back in the cold cart. One look at Zelgius, who was still shaking snow out of his hair from the ride up, told Greil that he wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon either.

“You know what, I think I’ll stay here for a while. It’s not too warm in the cart besides,” Greil said, and the other man shrugged and sat down near the fire, too cold to care about the awkward quiet that was sure to follow.

They sat in silence for a while. Greil staring out at the road behind them, and Zelgius prodding the fire and preparing more branches for burning as they were needed. It was starting to get dark, despite it only being  mid afternoon. Nifl’s winter days were notoriously short, and they would have to keep their guard up during the night in case of enemy attacks or aggressive wildlife. 

Greil took a break from carving patterns in the snow with his dagger and looked up at Zelgius. The only part of him that Greil could see were his eyes; the rest of him was still wrapped in his coat and cloak. He was staring intently into the depths of the fire with an unreadable expression; thinking hard if Greil had to guess. The older man’s mind drifted back to the words of the summoner. They’d have to learn to get along eventually… and he wasn’t sure that stiff silence was a good permanent solution. Now would probably be a good time to talk, to pass the time if nothing else

“So,” He started, Zelgius’s gaze snapping up from the fire, “How long have you been in Askr?”

The Black Knight shifted, wrapping his cloak around his shoulders and running a hand through his hair.

“About a year now, give or take a few weeks.”

“Hmm. That’s quite a while now… No wonder you’ve managed to make so many new friends.”

“Friends?” Zelgius asked. 

By answering the first question, he’d fallen into Greil’s trap, and was starting to look more and more suspicious. It’s not like he had anywhere to escape to, and there was no one here to break up a fight should one start, so Greil would have to be careful about that he said. Cornered animals could do a lot of damage if provoked.

“You get along well with the girls, I just mean. I would have never expected that, with them being all bubbly and you being… well… you.”

“I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t get along. They’re young, but they’re both responsible and capable fighters. I’ve dealt with children before, believe it or not.”

“I suppose… I suppose… The girls are quite resourceful.  Though I was most surprised to hear from Empress Sanaki that you and Ike have come to some sort of agreement now.”

Zelgius fiddled with something in his hands. Greil glanced down to see that he was using his own dagger to carve chunks out of one of the rejected logs. The log looked more like a vampire stake than a whittling project. 

“You spoke with the Empress? When?”

“She came to see me soon after I was summoned. The same day you sucker-punched me in the courtyard I believe. When I told her… I don’t think I’ve ever been intimidated by anyone that short before.”

Zelgius chuckled slightly, in a way that could have almost been genuinely fond.

“Yes, she does have that effect on people.”

“You work for her now then?”

“Yes… My master will want me to protect her in his absence. He has not arrived to Askr yet.”

“Your master?” Greil quirked an eyebrow.

“Lord Sephiran of the Begnion Senate.”

“Hmmm… If you work for Begnion now, why are you still wearing Daein’s colors then?”

“I simply wear what I was summoned with. Armor works well no matter what color it is.”

“I guess,” Greil sighed, “You know, you’re being awfully loose-lipped tonight for someone who goes to such lengths to conceal their identity. What gives?”

“When this war is over, I assume I will go back to being dead, just as you will. Dead men have no need for secrets.”

“You died? Well now, who could have possibly accomplished that, what with you having all those fancy toys on you,” Greil motioned to the cart, where the Black Knight’s armor was packed away. Alondite was impaled into the snowy ground just a few inches from where Zelgius sat, just in case he needed it.

“Ike never told you? He bested me in single combat, just as I did to you.”

“If he did that, then why do you two supposedly get along so well? Surely you must want to kick his ass in revenge, right”

Zelgius laughed, this time humorlessly.

“There have been enough rematches between us. He beat me, fair and square. Besides, you can be rest assured that I “kick his ass” regularly during training.”

“You two train together?”

“On occasion. We use the same fighting technique after all.”

“Huh,” Greil said, genuinely surprised, “I never would have guessed. I woulda thought you two would still hate each other, even after all this.”

Zelgius put down his dagger and log.

“I never hated him. I don’t hate any of the soldiers I fight. They are doing their jobs, just as I am doing mine.”

“Yes, well, from what I understand, your job was the annihilation of life as we know it, so I can understand  why you might have made a few enemies.”

“You could not possibly understand why my master decided to do what he did,” Zelgius said defensively. Greil shrugged.

“Maybe not, and maybe he even had a good reason. But he, and by extension you, still put a lot of people in danger.”

“We did.”

“Do you regret it?”

Zelgius was looking into the fire again.

“I-... I am not proud of some of the things I have done. I should not have threatened your daughter the way I did. I shouldn't have stood by in Daein when I learned what was happening to the laguz there. There were times where I probably should not have been so unquestioning of my master’s wills. But… I do not regret what I did. I swore to serve, and serve I did. I fulfilled my purpose.” 

“Your purpose?”

“My master needed someone to help him with is vision. Someone far more disposable than he.”

“Sounds like a pretty shit deal to me.”

“No,” Zelgius was angry now, Greil could see it in his eyes, “it wasn’t. You have no right to speak about people you’ve never met.”

“Maybe… maybe… You care a lot about him, huh?”

“Of course, he’s my master.” 

The look in the younger man’s eyes softened slightly, irritated but not violent.

“How long have you been serving him, if I might ask? You did say you weren’t keeping secrets.”

“I met him… Let’s see… about a month or two before you defected. I joined up with him as soon as you left, and then we traveled to Begnion together.”

“That was what, fifteen, sixteen years ago?”

“Eighteen. I continued serving him all the while, especially after he became the prime minister. The birth of the empress took up a lot of his time, after all.”

Greil scooted a little closer to the fire. The conversation had settled back into something reasonably non-volatile, thank the goddess. 

“How old is the little squirt anyways?”

“You would do well to refer to the Empress more respectfully,  _ Greil. _ She’s only thirteen but she’s more responsible than all of the other senators combined.”

“She could be the wisest person on Tellius, but that wouldn’t change the fact that she barely comes up to my waist. You should feed that girl more.”

“My lord tells me the royal family has always been on the short side.” 

The fondness is back in Zelgius’s voice again.

“So I guess you two are pretty good friends then? You and your Lord.”

Zelgius hums a little bit at the back of his throat. 

“I suppose. We place a great deal of trust in each other.”

“...Do you now…”

“What?” Zelgius grumbled, anticipating another attack on his master.

“I assume you two have some sort of… especially close relationship… if you trust each other so completely.”

“....”

Zelgius sat up straighter, eyes narrowing in a way that was more suspicious than threatening. Greil pressed on. Pushing the other man’s buttons was turning out to be an excellent way to pass the time.

“I mean, from what you say, it seems like you practically raised the Empress together-”

“Greil…”

“-and you speak so highly of him-”

“ _ Greil- _ ”

“-it’s pretty obvious that you two are-”

“GAWAIN.”

For just a moment, Greil was almost worried that Zelgius would throw his knife at him. The man looked to be somewhere between angry and embarrassed, and Greil was positive that the flush on his face wasn’t only because of the rapidly dropping temperature. 

“Easy there big guy, I’m only teasing. I’m almost happy for you, in a roundabout sort of way… You always were so easy to shove others away back in Daein. I’m glad you found someone to trust… even if I don’t necessarily agree with your idea of a ‘romantic vacation’.”

Zelgius gave him a good, hard stare before retreating back into the warmth of his cloak, shaking his hair of snow and placing the dark fabric over his head. They stayed that way, silent aside from the scraping of Zelgius’s knife against wood, for a while. It reminded Greil of being back in Daein. There had been other soldiers around those fires as well, all young men and women that Greil had been training in some capacity, but Zelgius, then only a squire, would always sit next to him. He wouldn’t speak often, but he would listen, especially to whatever Greil had to say.

Zelgius cleared his throat after a few more moments.

“Well then. I’ve said my piece so let me ask you, why did you leave Daein?”

“Why did I leave? My family was in danger there.”

“Why? Surely a rider of Daein could afford the best protection in the country for his kin...”

“Elena- you remember Elena…?” Zelgius nodded and Greil continued, “She stole something… important from Daein. We had to flee before anyone found out.”

“The medallion.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Well, how else would it have found its way into your daughter’s hands?”

“How did you know that she had it?”

“I was there the day she… The day Elena…”

It was Greil’s turn to act suspicious. 

“If you were there, why didn’t you stop me?”

“My lord and I got there too late. By the time we had arrived, the damage was done. All that there was left to do was… clean up.”

Greil hummed in thought. The memory of his wife’s untimely death made him feel nothing but pure guilt, but now in this new land, it felt as if it had happened lifetimes ago. After a quiet moment, Greil chuckled to himself. Zelgius looked confused at his apparent flippancy over the circumstances of his wife’s murder.

“You know, I had always wondered how Ike had gotten me back into the house back then. I’d always assumed he’d dragged me.”

“He was far too small to carry any grown man at that time, if my memory serves me,” Zelgius said.

“Scrawny little thing he was back then. I’m glad he grew up so strong. I’m just glad he never lost his mother’s heart. He can go on lookin’ like me all he likes, but he’ll always be a far better man than I.”

“You’re a good man, as far as good men go. Not that I am one to make any judgements on the righteousness of others.”

“Well, we all do our best now don’t we.”

The conversation lulled for a bit before picking back up, until a few hours had passed. They spoke about Tellius and the events that had transpired after Greil’s death, they spoke about those they had met both at home and in Askr, and in the end, they came to some sort of understanding.

They were not friends. But they certainly weren’t enemies anymore. The uneasy feeling that had hung over the team for the past weeks subsided with every story told, every secret shared. Not everything had been forgiven, and certainly not everything had been forgotten, but it was a step.

“The girls won’t be back for a few more hours, and it's getting late. Would you like to take the first watch or shall I?” Zelgius asked, adding another crudely carved lump of wood to the pile next to him. The man would never make it in an artistic career as far as Greil was concerned. 

“I can take it. Let’s switch of in about two hours so I can get some shut-eye before we have to haul ass back to camp.”

Zelgius stood, brushing mud off his pants and boots.

“One more question before I go.”

“Shoot,” Greil said, getting up and grabbing his axe from the wagon. The floral print on it wasn’t exactly the most intimidating weapon he’d ever had, but it got the job done.

“Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t use a sword, back when I fought you in Gallia?”

Greil looked up from wiping his axe with the corner of his cloak.

“... Would it have mattered?”

“...”

“You were on orders to get the medallion, after all. Wouldn’t you have fought me regardless?”

“I do try not to attack those who cannot properly defend themselves. I would have let you live.”

“But what about my children? They would have tried to protect me, to protect their mother’s memento.”

“And they would have failed. But I wouldn’t have killed them.”

“Hurt them?”

“That depends on whether they got in my way or not.”

“So you woulda left my family alive, but still ended the world. There really is no winning with you, is there?”

“Ashnard got the medallion regardless of your family's actions. I don’t think you surviving would have had much effect on-gah!”

There was a barely audible whistling sound, and then the thud of something small colliding with flesh. Zelgius coughed in surprise and whirled around, pulling Alondite out of the ground in one fluid motion. In the dim light of the dwindling fire, Greil could see the shafts of two arrows poking out of the Black Knight’s cloak, one in his shoulder and one in his back. 

“ _ Fuck,! _ Hey, are you alright?” Greil asked, looking from the rapidly spreading stain on the fabric to the tree line, searching for the attacker.

Zelgius groaned, passing Alondite to his uninjured arm.

“Yes… Let’s get rid of them quickly.”

There was a slight movement in the trees, and both of them zeroed in on it like hawks. Greil charged at the wayward archer, who was too slow on readying his bow. Greil smashed in his skull like a watermelon, taking a moment to regard the man’s clothes. Light leather armor and poorly maintained furs. 

Bandits.

A few short steps away, Zelgius was fighting with another of their group. The man held an axe in his gloved hands, and even though his adversary was injured and unarmored, a bandit’s iron weapon was simply no match for a holy sword. The man hit the ground with a thud, not even managing to land a scratch on the Black Knight.

The last bandit struck out at Greil from the cover of a tree, and the older man cried out in pain as his bad arm was twisted behind his back and kicked. Greil ignored the horrible crunching sound that followed and whirled on the man, who towered over him, a solid wall of muscle. They locked weapons as Greil’s forearm dangled from his mangled joint uselessly, the pain overloading his brain.

There was the sound of footsteps behind him and Zelgius charged forward, sword at the ready. Both axe fighters dodged, but there were few fighters who could have completely avoided Zelgius’s strike, especially while he wasn’t weighed down by his armor. Like lightning the general tore through the bandit’s  bicep, causing the ruffian to drop his axe. Greil raised his own weapon as the man stumbed, and with one swing, it was done.

The forest was quiet except for the sound of wind and heavy breathing. 

“Are you… are you alright?” Zelgius panted heavily, face pale.

“My arm- He fucking- he snapped my arm,” Greil hissed, cradling his messy limb.

“Let’s get back to the cart, there’s medical supplies there… I need… I need to pull out these arrows,” Zelgius mumbled, trudging along, dragging Alondite after him through the snow.

Greil almost collapsed on a rock near the fire as soon as he could, legs feeling like jello.

“There’s a first aid kit in the back, get that… I’ll help you get those arrows out and then you set my arm.” Greil said, trying to steady his breathing as Zelgius nodded and disappeared into the wagon.

There was the sound of things being moved around and weapons being tossed aside before the man reappeared again, holding a small wooden crate in one arm. He set it down gracelessly in the snow, opening it up and pulling out bandages and a long strip of fabric that could be used as a sling.

“Alright- good, good we have all the stuff we need. Come’ere and turn around so I can get those out.”

Zelgius approached the man, and Greil readyed himself.

“Brace yourself, boy.”

Greil yanked hard on the one in Zelgius’s shoulder. It came out rather easily; the arrow was not harpooned in any way and had done relatively little damage. The black knight grunted slightly, hand curling into a fist.

“Okay, and number two,” Greil said, yanking the other one out with the same practiced speed.

This one had gone between two of Zelgius’s ribs, but probably hadn’t hit anything important. The man swore under his breath because of the sharp pain, and reached around his back with his good arm to feel the wound through his cape and cloak. Both injuries would need to be cleaned and bandaged as soon as possible, but for now he would be fine. 

“You good?” Greil asked, dropping the second arrow in the snow.

“Ye-yes,” Zelgius hissed through gritted teeth.

“Alright, then help me now. I need… a splint and the sling.” 

The wounded man took a stumbling step towards the rejected stick pile and pulled out one that would fit the curve of an elbow.

“Show me your arm,” He said, pulling thin strips of fabric out of the medical crate.

The elbow must have been broken, for it to hurt this badly. It took a great deal of fortitude for Greil to not jump off the rock every time Zelgius adjusted the position of his arm as he bound it to the stick. Even putting it in the sling was excruciating. Once he was settled, he let out a long, pained sigh.

“Wild time to not have Lissa with us, huh. That girl knows how to use a staff…”

Zelgius nodded, reaching again over his shoulder to paw at his injuries. At some point he had dropped his cloak in the snow, and Greil was relieved to see that there wasn’t nearly as much blood on his coat as he had originally thought there had been. That being said, the man was still very pale.

“Come sit down. I can help with the bandaging,”

Zelgius shook his head, kneeling to grab more supplies from the crate.

“I can do it myself, just… stay here. I’ll be right back.” 

He stood, and then swayed dangerously on his feet.

“Hey! Watch yourself there. What’s up with you? The arrows didn’t go that deep at all!”

Zelgius turned to Greil, eyes glazed. He mumbled something.

“Speak up boy, I can’t hear you.”

“Poison.”

One of his knees gave out and he hit the ground hard, breathing rough as he struggled to right himself. Greil, jelly legs forgotten for the moment, slid off the rock and stumbled to his feet.

“Poison? By the goddess, why didn’t you  _ say _ something you stupid shit…”

Zelgius had given up on standing, instead content with laying on the ground facing the dwindling fire, measuring his breathing.

“The archer hit you right? Anyone else?” Greil asked, kneeling down next to the other man.

Zelgius didn’t answer, continuing his shallow breaths and staring dimly into the dying flames.

“The archer… you better fucking hope it was the archer…” Greil said under his breath, standing up and turning towards the woods again.

Any assassin would know to carry the antidotes to the poisons they used, just in case of an accident. It wasn’t hard for Greil to find the bandit’s body, and he wasted no time in ripping the satchel from the man’s corpse and rifling through it as he ran back to their little campsite. He dumped the contents of the bag on the ground and turned over each bottle. Some were vulneraries, some salves and elixirs, and there were some unlabeled vials full of black gunk that could only be poison. Finally, he found a small bottle labeled “cure” and hoped for the best.

“Are you still alive over there?” Greil said, climbing over to the fallen man.

As Zelgius’s eyes slowly slid over to him, Greil came to a chilling realization.

He didn’t have to help.

If Zelgius died out here, he wouldn’t be blamed. They were both injured, and Greil couldn’t find an antidote in time. A tragic loss, but there was nothing anyone could have done.

Greil hadn’t forgiven Zelgius. He probably never would. But they had gotten somewhere tonight, and that was enough to warrant hope, even if it was just a little bit.

Greil uncapped the vial.

“Hey. Hey- Here, you gotta sit up.”

Greil sat next to Zelgius, heaving him into a sitting position. The strain on his own injured body was incredible, and the Black Knight was just about as heavy as he looked, but soon they were sitting, one of Zelgius’s arms slung over Greil’s shoulder.

“Here you go son. Drink this… I don’t know what the dose is so just take all of it…” He shoved the bottle into one of Zelgius’s hands. 

The man took a few more shallow breaths before raising his arm and downing the small bottle. He coughed on the contents and dropped the empty container.

“Was that the right one? How do you feel?” Greil asked, releasing Zelgius’s arm from his shoulder and placing his good hand over the other man’s forehead. He was never much good at telling whether people had fevers, but it seemed like the right thing to do at a time like this. 

“You-,” Zelgius spoke, his voice horse, “You didn’t know which was the right o-one?”

“Listen. I don’t have time coming out of my ass. Are you good?”

“Consider yourself… a lucky… bast-tard… General G-gawain.” Zelgius spoke breathlessly next to him, one hand tightly gripping the fabric of his shirt over where his heart would be.

He was still clammy and sluggish, but he would live. Greil stood up and shook out his shoulder, and investigated the rest of the bottles on the ground. He was particularly interested in the black slime, which was slightly viscous in it’s vial. He dared not open it.

“Damn… This is some high grade shit. I wonder where those brigands got it.” He said as Zelgius began the arduous task of righting himself. 

“Looks like… some sort of dagon venom.” Greil continued, holding the vial up to the light of the fire. 

Zelgius was now sitting cross-legged in front of the fire next to Greil, still panting slightly.

“I’m amazed that this didn’t kill you within the minute. How the hell are you alright?”

“Do I… look alright… to you”

“You look better than dead.”

“... I’ve always been rather resistant to disease and poison. I guess I just got lucky.”

Greil hummed. This wasn’t exactly the time for more button pushing, but…

“I’d always heard that the bird tribes were hardier than most when it comes to stuff like this.”

Greil had never seen a man go from exhausted to completely on guard so fast. Neither of them spoke for a very, very tense moment.

“... I’m not quite sure what you would be talking about, Gawain.”

Greil sighed.

“Zelgius, you have looked exactly the same for the past… twenty or so years. I was honestly astonished when I came to Askr and found that in all the time I’d been in Crimea, you hadn’t aged a day,” Greil considered the stiff man in front of him, “Actually, you have changed a little bit. You’ve managed to glue your face into a frown permanently.”

Zelgius said nothing.

“Besides, I figure that when I have to help you bandage those cuts up, and yes, you will need help, I would have found out anyways. I’m saving you the trouble of explaining yourself.”

There was another heavy pause.

“You can’t tell anyone. Anyone at all.” Zelgius’s words were almost a whisper. 

“If I’m being honest, boy, I don’t particularly care. I’ve known Soren for years now, and I’ve never cared then either. We aren’t on Tellius, and this only has to be a big deal if you want it to be.”

Zelgius looked into the fire, then down at the small pile of medical supplies next to him, and very slowly, picked up a roll of bandages.

“Well then… if you say you’re going to help, then help.”

And so Greil did.

**Author's Note:**

> I JUST THINK THEY SHOULD TALK ABOUT SOME STUFF
> 
> a result of me accidently s supporting them in heroes and not realizing what i had done Until It Was Too Late
> 
> title is a nier automata song (i was originally gonna call it dependent weakling instead but ive dunked on both of them enough in the last 7000 or so words)


End file.
